Wishing On Dandelions by Mary DeMuth

This was a difficult novel for me to read. I read "Watching The Tree Limbs" a few months ago, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn't pleasurable reading about what Maranatha went through.

As a very young girl, she was sexually abused by a boy, a bully who was not much older than she was. That opened up a Pandora's Box of secrets that ultimately led to a satisfactory resolution of sorts.

"Wishing On Dandelions" opens with Maranatha as a teenager now. She has moved on in her life, deepening her friendship with Camilla and growing and maturing into a young woman. Or has she?

A tragedy hits her life and turns everything on its head. Enter Georgeanne Peach, Maranatha's nemesis and new aunt, and the conflicts increase. As the story progresses, Maranatha seems more and more closed off. More secretive, even though she really only has one secret.

Another attempted attack on her leads her down a path she struggles down, going as an unwilling victim. What results from this incident is what finally sets her free, a kind of backward blessing from God to Maranatha's life.

I almost didn't finish this novel. While what happened to Maranatha took place in the previous novel, watching the fallout happened in this one, and that, for me, was far more painful to observe.

When her breakthrough finally came, I couldn't help myself. Tears flooded my eyes and poured down my cheeks, and I just sobbed--with relief, with grief for her, and I was reminded of the Scripture in Joel that says God will restore to you what the locusts have destroyed.

The Maranatha novels are not to be read lightly, but they are to be read. The journey taken with this young woman and those who love her is not to be missed, no matter how difficult the journey is. I look forward to the next project from Mary DeMuth...I think.

"Wishing on Dandelions" receives 5 bookmarks and a bonus tassel out of a possible five from me. She has impacted my life with her writing for a very, very long time.

Happy Reading!

Deena